AFRICAN UNION
/ /
UNION AFRICAINE
/ UNIÃO AFRICANA
Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA P. O. Box 3243 Tele: +251-115 517 700
Fax: +251-11-5 517844 Website: www.africa-union.org/youth

PRE-SUMMIT AFRICAN YOUTH FORUM

4 – 6 April 2011

Addis Ababa - ETHIOPIA

PRE-SUMMIT

AFRICAN YOUTH FORUM

4 – 6 April 2011

REPORT

I.  INTRODUCTION

1.  During the 15th Ordinary Session of the African Union Heads of State and Government, held in Uganda in 2010, the Assembly adopted ‘Accelerating Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Development’ as the theme for the 2011 Summit.

2.  In this context, a High Level Meeting and African Youth Forum were organized by the African Union Commission from 1 to 6 April 2011 at the Headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This accorded the youth an opportunity to deliberate on key issues and have their voices heard.

II.  ATTENDANCE

3.  In attendance at the Forum were about 200 youth representatives from across Africa and the Diaspora. They were composed of representatives of National Youth Councils from 25 Member States, an important number of delegates from Civil Society, Youth-led NGOs, and Associations.

4.  Pan-African Youth Union (PYU) 7 members from the Executive Committee were participating.

5.  Regional Economic Communities: SADC youth unit was representing the Southern Region..

6.  The Representatives of the following organizations and partners also attended the meeting: UNFPA, UNICEF, UNECA, UNAIDS, ILO, UNESCO, UNHRC, UN WOMEN, FAO, WFP, UNDP, ACBF, AfDB,

7.  Bilateral partners : EUC (European Youth Forum), USA (Embassy to the AUC), USAID (Liaison office), LOJIQ from Quebec, Canada

III.  ADOPTION OF AGENDA AND PROGRAMME OF WORK

8.  The proposed agenda and programme of work were adopted without amendments.

IV. ACCELERATING YOUTH EMPOWERMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

ITEM 1: OVERALL STATUS OF YOUTH IN AFRICA: PROGRESS AND GAPS

9.  A comprehensive presentation of the overall status of Youth on the continent was made by youth presenters and panelists. The presentation and the discussions that followed addressed key areas, including: Youth employment challenges and opportunities in Africa, HIV/AIDS prevalence among youth and prevention progress, sexual and reproductive health, access to capital for agriculture and small and medium enterprises, cultural practices and human rights, human trafficking, effects of climate change, use of Information and Communication Technology, and political participation and decision-making. A number of important recommendations emerged from the debates and interventions that enriched the participants.

Main recommendations as formulated:

I.  Popularize, ratify, domesticate and implement the African Youth Charter by national governments, judiciary bodies, civil society and all stake holders

II.  Respect and defend all human rights instruments and conventions

III.  Take Advantage of the benefits of globalization as well as information and communication technologies to achieve the African Youth Charter (AYC), African Youth Decade Plan of Action and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

IV.  Align all youth related development programs of national governments, developments partners and other stake holders with the targets of the African Youth Decade Plan of Action (2009-2018)

V.  Prioritize the eradication of youth poverty, youth extreme poverty, hunger, gender inequality and discrimination by prioritizing education and decent employment for youth

VI.  Creating enabling environment for youth to effectively and meaningfully participate in politics and decision making

VII.  Establish mechanism to promote and support youth entrepreneurship and innovation

VIII.  Establish a Ministry exclusive for youth development in all member states and strengthen the technical capacity of Youth Ministries through recruitment and employment of professional youth workers and volunteers

IX.  Establish a “Youth Fund” for the implementation of the Youth Decade PoA, the African Union Youth Volunteers Corp (AU-YVC), and youth entrepreneurship and innovation

X.  Develop strategies for strengthening Public Private Partnership (PPP) in stimulating domestic resources for implementing Youth Development Programs

XI.  Create Mechanisms that will enable African youth in the Diaspora to effectively contribute to sustainable development in Africa and facilitate and co-ordinate establishment of the PYU, NYCs and Diaspora youth institutions

XII.  Reaffirm the importance of our natural resource-base and collectively undertake actions to protect the environment and mitigate the effects of climate change

ITEM 2: CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR NEW GENERATION LEADERSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT IF AFRICA

10.  A key note address was made by a UNAIDS Youth Fellow who presented a case study whereby young people taking leadership in tackling many of the challenges faced by the youth including HIV & AIDS prove to be more effective and called for scaling up youth leadership in the front lines of addressing the continent's challenges.

11.  The presentation was followed by a panel discussion highlighting different aspects and dimensions of the presentations. The following recommendations were made:

I.  Reaffirm that Pan-African Union (PYU) and its regional structures are accorded the status of AU special agencies at continental, regional and national levels as well as in the Diaspora

II.  Review or/and develop institutional frameworks for National Youth Councils

III.  Implement the resolution calling on Member States to include youth as part of official delegations to relevant UN and AU General Assembly meetings and related activities

IV.  Prevent the involvement of youth in conflict, use of child soldier, and adopt pragmatic and complimentary engagement of youth in conflict prevention, resolution and reconciliation

V.  Recognize and provide for the special needs of adolescents (15-19 years) in devising youth programs

VI.  The role of Youth in the Diaspora in the development of democratic leadership in Africa and amongst the youth.

ITEM 3: PARALLEL SESSIONS ON: MAINSTREAMING YOUTH IN PROGRAMMES AND PRIORITIES FOR DEVELOPMENT

ITEM 3.1: Youth Employment

12.  Panelists from ILO and FAO presented case studies and discussed the trends shaping youth employment in Africa including strategies for implementing and funding youth employment, action plans for the agricultural sector and the rural youth, and the opportunities for new job creation.

13.  It was argued that youth employment issues, which include aspects of job creation, unemployment, skill building, formal and informal sectors, access to capital for young people, leadership and entrepreneur skills, innovation, rural urban migration, etc. are the key factors when defining the welfare of youth in Africa nowadays.

ITEM 3.2: Youth Access to Quality Education

14.  This session, organized in partnership with AUC Division for Education in collaboration with UNESCO & UNICEF discussed extensively the AU Second Decade on Education and identified the major gaps in youth education in Africa. The following challenges were mainly noticed:

ü  Insufficient number of teachers

ü  Teaching jobs becoming ever less popular among the youth (due to lack of good salaries)

ü  School to work transition and acquisition of soft skills as bigger challenges

ü  Question whether African Institutions of higher Education are producing the right kind of young people Africa needs in the coming future

ü  Lack of adequate programs for out of school youth

ü  Persisting gender imbalance in school attendance esp. in rural areas -low girl attendance

ITEM 3.3: Youth Access to Quality Health Services

15.  Session discussed the Abuja-15 Commitment by Member States and Implications on Universal Access for Young People. Discussants pointed out the fragility of the youth towards many health risks and preventable deaths. This combined with the fact that the majority of Africa's population is 35 and below, health programming by governments should specifically target building of youth friendly health services - which tend to be neglected. Further topics of discussion include:

ü  Inadequate commitment to the goals and objectives of Universal Access to Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support.

ü  Increasing number of new HIV infections relative to the number of persons living with HIV on treatment.

ü  Unacceptable high rate of new infection among youth among youth

ü  Low Commitment by Member States to the Abuja-15 declaration urging the allocation of 15% of national budget for health

Recommendations from parallel sessions are listed as follows:

I.  Adopt economic and business policies to create and ensure an enabling environment for the private sector to invest in youth development

II.  Provide incentives for Young farmers by enabling access to land, financial capital, skill and knowhow building, and provision of adequate property rights

III.  Support youth with micro-finance and entrepreneurial skills development initiatives

IV.  Improve the quality of higher education by increasing the level of investments into education by governments.

V.  Prioritize quality and innovative education (formal and non-formal) such as internships, volunteering and e-learning programs for the acquisition of knowledge, life-skills, livelihood skills, entrepreneurship

VI.  Facilitate the involvement of Diaspora youth and repatriates with specific skills and experience in the educational process

VII.  Fulfill the commitment to the Abuja +15 declaration to spend at least 15% of the national budget on health

VIII.  Reduce the number of new HIV infections among youth through scaling up of existing programs and innovative youth friendly multi-media behavior change programs

IX.  Prioritize and strengthen health systems to improve access to age and gender appropriate sexual and reproductive health information and care services including STIs, HIV and AIDS

X.  Prioritize the prevention of new infections among adolescent youth

XI.  Ensure zero tolerance to stigma and discriminations.

XII.  Generate data and develop specific programs for most at risk youth especially young women

XIII.  Increasing access of youth to age and gender appropriate sexual and reproductive health information and services including comprehensive condom programming.

ITEM 4: IMPACT OF YOUTH EMPOWERMENT ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC, POLITICAL GROWTH AND SUSTAINABILITY

16.  The lead presentation of this session focused on the effects of youth empowerment in shaping the socio-economic and political aspects of the continent in the years to come. Key areas of discussion included:

ü  Strategies for youth participation in conflict prevention in Africa given the fact that young people are often the perpetrators of conflicts and their solutions

ü  Evidence and models of mainstreaming youth in Poverty Reduction Strategies and aching development goals including the MDGs. So far there is poor involvement of youth in poverty reduction planning and programs.

ü  Challenges and opportunities for young people in Africa as the plan their future

ü  The role of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship in finding African solutions to Africa's problems

ü  The impact of climate change and the role of the youth as leaders in providing solutions

ü  Lack of incentives for highly skilled youth in Diaspora to return to Africa

17.  Discussants have argued that empowered youth have made significant contribution in the area of health especially combating HIV/AIDS, innovation and job creation, sports, entertainment, promoting and of shared values.

The debates generated the following recommendations

I.  Promote Pan-Africanism among the upcoming generation

II.  Create an enabling environment for young people to innovate, enterprise, and create jobs, by channeling resources into research, microfinance, formal and informal skill building

III.  Promote Youth-Adult partnership in leadership building and development in Africa

IV.  Scale up peer to peer programs

V.  Create a visa free regime to travel across the continent especially for students, journalists, entrepreneurs, medics, youth volunteers

VI.  Promote youth development and empowerment and contribute to the achievement of the MDGs, NEPAD and the Youth Decade Plan of Action

VII.  Promote accountable, responsible and healthy life styles among all Africans

VIII.  Fight against human trafficking, exploitation of refugees, internally displaced young people (IDPs), substance abuse, social exclusion, early and forced marriages, unwanted pregnancies, malaria, gender inequality, maternal mortality, new HIV infections, STIs, TB, discrimination of marginalized groups and xenophobia

IX.  Strengthen the technical capacity of Youth Ministries through recruitment and employment of professional youth workers and volunteers.

ITEM 5: THE FUTURE AFRICAN INVESTORS “DOING BUSINESS IN AFRICA”

18.  The lead paper identified key challenges and opportunities young people in Africa face in doing business. Main challenges identified are: lack of access to capital, mentorship and skills, lack of access to conducive networks, absence of entrepreneurship culture in Africa, lack of protection for property and intellectual rights, absence of healthy business environment and positive competition, lack of service mentality.

19.  Panelists further deliberated on the legal frameworks and implications for practitioners in the informal economy; economic policies and practices and their impacts on youth; the potential of small and medium enterprises (SME) as drivers of the African economy and leadership and skill building among youth in the rural economy.

The following strong recommendations emerged from the debates

I.  The African Union Commission and African governments must facilitate financial and skills-based support for youth entrepreneurs and individual initiatives that make a difference

II.  The African Governments must review the existing economic policies and laws to promote youth entrepreneurship

III.  Public Private Partnership must be encouraged to promote youth entrepreneurship

IV.  Include entrepreneurship education in the school curricula

V.  Prioritize youth development issues as part of private sector’s corporate social responsibility.

ITEM 6: THE ROLE OF YOUTH AS MEMBER OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN ADDRESSING DEVELOPMENT ISSUES IN AFRICA

20.  The presentations highlighted the various on-going development projects with regard to youth in Africa and underlined the role of the civil society especially with regards to monitoring development work on the ground and reflecting on good practices. Identified key issues were addressed, the most important include:

ü  Inadequate database of youth serving/led NGO’s by AUC

ü  Lack of autonomy of NYC’s

ü  Inadequate recognition of CSO contributions to both formal and informal sectors

Following the debates, an important number of recommendations were formulated as listed below:

  1. Necessity to professionalize youth work and acknowledgement the contribution made;
  2. Ensure harmonization between the African Youth Charter, National Youth Policies and national development plans and budgets
  3. Monitor the implementation of the African Youth Charter and the Plan of Action for the decade through standardized tools, indicators and mechanisms for mainstreaming youth issues and monitoring progress towards development targets (ensure availability of youth comparative data for advocacy and programming)
  4. Fully implement the article 11 of the African Youth Charter on youth participation
  5. Engage young - youth experts and civil society when addressing youth issues
  6. Strengthen the capacity Youth led organizations and their cooperation with national youth councils
  7. Establish or reinforce mechanisms that would facilitate and popularize active and meaningful youth participation in the development and implementation of global and national plans such as the MDGs and Poverty Reduction Strategy Programs
  8. Promote accountability, transparency and democratic leadership among youth organizations and networks including the PYU

IX.  Utilize the African Peer Review Mechanism(APRM) and NEPAD to monitor and report on the implementation of the African Youth Charter